On-demand delivery app Glovo has raised €150 million in a Series D funding round.
The Barcelona-based start-up delivers everything from food to groceries and pharmaceutical items.
The firm will use the injection of funding to bolster its global growth as it looks to launch in new markets across Europe, Africa and Latin America.
It will also focus on scaling its team of engineers and expanding on-demand innovations including its groceries capabilities and ‘dark supermarkets’.
These stores, which currently serve customers in Barcelona and Madrid, stock up to 1,000 items which enable groceries to be delivered to customers within 20 minutes of placing the order.
Founded in January 2015 by CEO Oscar Pierre and Sacha Michaud, Glovo launched in a new city every four days on average last year.
The company now employs more than 1,000 people and it is the fastest-growing delivery player in Latin America and EMEA.
“Glovo continues to scale rapidly and we have big ambitions for this round of investment,” said Pierre.
“Our main priority is to invest in our people – our team have been fundamental to our success to date and as we grow we need an even bigger team of engineers to meet the demand we’re experiencing.
“Our aim is to lead in every market we enter and provide an on-demand experience that delivers for our customers, Glovers and partners. We believe innovations such as dark supermarkets, as well as our appetite to innovate to provide everything through one app for city dwellers, gives us a significant competitive advantage in the market for the year ahead.”
The round was led by Lakestar, the technology entrepreneur VC, and Drake, owner of global pizza franchise Papa John’s, with support from new investors Idinvest Partners, a European private equity and venture capital firm, and Korelya Capital, which supports the growth of European start-ups.
Glovo will also be focusing on its new ‘Cook Room’ project, which are customer-free spaces specifically designed to help partners cater to orders in an efficient way.
Glovo has opened up Cook Rooms in cities in Spain with aspirations to expand these dark kitchens globally.
Dharmash Mistry, partner at Lakestar, who will be joining the Glovo board, added: “We are excited to invest behind Oscar and the Glovo team.
“In only three years they have built a significant, multi-country, next-generation, branded last mile express delivery company.
“The bold ambition to deliver ‘anything anywhere’ in less than 30 minutes will continue to change consumer behaviour around food and grocery delivery, and much beyond.”
Glovo has secured €285m funding to date. The firm has more than 5.5 million unique users and 16,000 associated partners. It operates in 124 cities across 21 countries.